Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb To a slight degree or amount; somewhat. Used chiefly as a direction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In music, a little; somewhat; rather: as, poco adagio, somewhat slow.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb (Mus.) A little; -- used chiefly in phrases indicating the time or movement
  • adverb (Mus.) Little by little; as, poco a poco crescendo, gradually increasing in loudness.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, from Latin paucus; see pau- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • We met with a friend who, on our complaint, expostulated with him, and said, -- "Señor, these gentlemen say that you drive them very slowly (_muy poco á poco_)."

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 24, October, 1859 Various

  • _Crescendo ed animando poco a poco_ -- growing gradually louder in tone and quicker in _tempo_.

    Music Notation and Terminology Karl Wilson Gehrkens 1928

  • _Crescendo poco a poco_ -- increase in power very, very gradually.

    Music Notation and Terminology Karl Wilson Gehrkens 1928

  • "un poco" is a fixed adverb for measurement, it never changes just like "muy".

    M�s con un/una 2002

  • There are other words like that too, but I think thats probably how the word poco is, unless its used as a phrase such as "a poco" or "poco a poco", instead of the simple usage as an adjective ... but then again I probably have no idea what I'm talking about ......

    M�s con un/una 2002

  • Some dances may look familiar to American students, like the poco-poco, which is similar to the electric slide.

    The Post: News Anna Sudar 2008

  • Si en el mundo entero, existía algo absoluto que guardara el sabor del café, ella era feliz por este poco beneficio.

    SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles - Part 1036 2009

  • Word for word translation: ... por poco = almost se = themselves/le = on her/ven = her panties see/los chonitos = panties and is the subject of the phrase.

    escandalosa 2009

  • Let me weigh in on: ¡Qué escandalosa la minifalda de esa chica, por poco se le ven los chonitos!

    escandalosa 2009

  • La lavorazione criminal lui stata, the dir poco, straordinaria.

    Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009

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